The 10 Best Articles on Refugees and Migration 4/2018

January 30, 2018

This week we are telling you about the hell in Libya and the human cost of closing the Mediterranean route; the business of border control, migrants taken in at Ripabottoni and abandoned in awful conditions in Rosarno. We also explain what is wrong with Israel’s plan for African migrants, and the Bangladesh plan for the Rohingya refugees.

1. Slavery in Libya. In real time

2. The human cost of closing the Central Mediterranean route

The number of arrivals in Italy from Libya has dropped, but the death rate along the world’s most dangerous migrant route is getting higher. Last Sunday, thenews broke out of yet another shipwreck, with three dead and at least twenty missing, while the NGOshave denounced how the Libyan Coast Guard interfered with rescue operations. Read thein-depth article by Priyanka Boghani in Frontline on the human cost of the EU’s response to the migrant crisis.

3. The Italian village fighting to keep its migrants, and the burning migrant camp in Rosarno

“Molise is not a thing”, said ameme from a few years ago. In fact, the small Italian region is very real, and has now been thrown in the spotlight thanks to the small town of Ripabattoni, whose entire population has opposed the closing of its migrant reception centre; read about it inGianluca Mezzofiore’s article for CNN.

5. Follow the money: how countries are using the EU funds for migrants

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the UNHCR havemapped the implementation of the EU Asylum, Migration & Integration Fund (AMIF). The total budget established by the European Commission is over 3 billion euros, covering a period from 2014 and 2020, and the critical analysis has yielded interesting results. The UK, for instance, is the country that received more money than any other member state, and spent almost 60 percent of it on returning migrants. Read thearticle by Nikolaj Nielsen in EU Observer.

7. EU court: asylum seekers must not be forced to take ‘gay tests’

Asylum seekers must not be subjected to psychological tests to determine whether they are homosexual. It has been ruled by the European Court of Justice, following thecase of a Nigerian national who saw his asylum application rejected in Hungary based on such a test. In the ruling, the Court said that such reports interfere with a person’s privacy. Read thearticle in BBC (as well as our ownin-depth stories on LGBTI refugees in Europe).

8. Israel and its refugees: history will judge

Israeli prime minister Netanyahu will do anything to drive African migrants from his country. Early in 2018, Israel gave the 40,000 Eritrean and Sudanese nationals who were denied asylum a choice: receive 3,500 dollars and leave or risk life in jail. The government, it has been announced, will hire civilian inspector who will be paid up to 9,000 dollars to hunt African migrants (as told in thearticle by Labdi Latif Dahir in Quartz). Criticism against Netanyahu’s directive has come in many forms from all over the world, including aletter signed by Holocaust survivors. Read the articles byYehuda Bauer and byGideon Levy in Haaretz, warning us that history will judge us if we don’t put an end to this injustice.

10. How Lebanon wants to return Syrian refugees to a war zone

The anti-refugee sentiment grows in Lebanon, making things harder for the 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the atrocities of war and tried to rebuild a life in the neighbouring country, even among many obstacles and uncertainties. Desperate Syrians may be forced to choose between staying in a place that doesn’t want them and returning to a broken country. Read thearticle by Eric Reidy in The Nation.